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Sam Bankman-Fried is being held in a Nassau prison known for its harsh conditions.
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His relatives called the prison to see if he could get vegan food, a source told Bloomberg.
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Bankman-Fried’s attorney previously cited his vegan diet as the reason he should be released on bail.
Sam Bankman-Fried is being held in a prison in the Bahamas known for harsh conditions, but according to Bloomberg, his family still hopes his dietary preferences can be accommodated.
The founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX will remain at Fox Hill Correctional Center in Nassau until February after a judge denied him bail on Tuesday and ordered him to remain in custody pending extradition to the United States. Bankman-Fried was arrested by Bahamian authorities after US officials charged him with multiple charges, including fraud and money laundering.
Sources told Bloomberg that Bankman-Fried has his room in a maximum-security area of Fox Hill and cannot receive visitors due to COVID-19 protocol. A source told the outlet that Bankman-Fried’s relatives called the prison on Tuesday to ask if she could receive vegan meals.
Reports on Fox Hill described the prison as overcrowded and understaffed. Prison inmates said they had to remove human waste with buckets and were living among infestations of rats and worms, according to a 2021 human rights report compiled by the State Department. The detainees also said they had to wait a long time for their meals.
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers have been trying to use his vegan diet as a reason why he should be released pending extradition, CoinDesk reported on Tuesday. They asked the court to consider releasing him on $250,000 bond so that he could maintain his vegan diet and stick to his medications, including Adderall and Zyrtec.
It’s unclear which of Bankman-Fried’s relatives may have called the prison to supply him with vegan food, but the former CEO’s parents, who are law professors at Stanford, were present at his hearing in the Bahamas on Tuesday. According to CoinDesk, his mother laughed during the hearing when he was called a “fugitive.”
His other notable family members include his brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried and his aunt, Linda Fried, who is the dean of Columbia University’s School of Public Health.
Read the original article on Business Insider
